Ivy: A Battle Won

September 5, 2014 by Elaine 6 Comments

Gone but not forgotten: the Ivy has left its’ mark

Well it took some doing and like its’ historical namesake, Rasputin (the ivy) withstood many attempts to prise it away from the wall but perseverance has paid off and finally, yesterday late afternoon, the last of this annoying climber made its’ way into our brown recycling bin. But it has left its’ mark on the walls and and roof and Mud foresees a stint of house painting and roof repairs coming up in the not so distant future.

I have taken a series of photo’s of the marks and damaged caused but this plant:

From the pictures you can see just how invasive Ivy can be. Look at the shots of the fascia and you will see where vines have forced their way between the wall and the wood, causing the wood to become loose and raised away from the wall slightly. In one shot the render has been damaged to the point where a hole is clearly visible and as for the bathroom windowsill, well that’s what I found when I carefully removed the thick clump of vines from that area. The brown marks aren’t staining, by the way, they are where the roots on the underside of the vines appear to have eaten into the wall slightly, to gain purchase and Mud reckons these will have to be sanded out.

I can safely say that I will never be tempted to plant an ivy near to a building of any sort, ever again. Lesson learned!